MResProgrammes 2016-17
CHOOSING YOUR UNITS
To help you prepare for your Master’s studies at Bath inSeptember 2016, we would like you to chooseyour taught units that you wish to take for the coming academic year. A “unit” is the term we give to each individual taught module. The units that are available to you are given in the catalogue (link below).
The 2016-17 postgraduate programme & unit catalogues will be available soon, but you can also check the 15-16 catalogue (no major changes) For further information on each unit (such as the content of a unit and the nature of the assessment), please click the unit code (e.g. BB20023), which will take you to the unit descriptor details.
The rules of the MRes programme that apply to taught units
You have to undertake taught units totalling 30 credits. In all cases, this will comprise 1 compulsory units (BB50143) and additional 4 taught units for completion of credits.
- At least two taught units must be Masters-level (BB4 / BB5 units)
- Up to 2 taught units can be sub-Masters-level (BB3 / BB2 units)
Please list upto 8 of your preferred units in order of importance in LINK PROVIDED. We will then attempt to give you your top choices wherever possible. This choice is not absolutely binding and there may be the possibility of change after you arrive (see note 5 below on quota and timetabling restrictions), but we will endeavour to match your choices as much as possible.
Important points to note
- Of the 7 taught units– some units may be compulsory for some programmes
2. Unit codes
- The initial two letters indicate the department offering the Unit. For example, a BB unit is provided by the Department of Biology & Biochemistry.
- The next digit indicates the “level” of the unit. Levels 2-3 are sub-Masters-level. Levels 4-5 are Masters-level.
- The last 3 numbers define each specific unit.
(For example, BB40102 is a level 4 unit numbered 102 taught by the Department of Biology & Biochemistry)
3. As the Director of Studies for the MSc programmes, I have to approve your unit selection and would need to see an academic justification for all sub-Masters-level taught units. For example, if you would like to learn about cancer biology (BB20023) because you have not covered it in depth in your undergraduate degree programme.
4. Please note that each “6-credit” unit is deemed to be equivalent to 100 hours of work (includes independent study time). Depending on the nature of the unit, this may include lectures, practicals, tutorials, seminars, essay writing, private study, presentations, etc. The majority of the time required for a unit will be taken up by private study.
5. Restrictions:Seminar units, which involve presentations and discussions by the students, are all based on small class sizes and therefore there is a student quota for each such unit. In addition, the constraints imposed by timetabling means some units may be taught at the same time and so are incompatible with each other. Some units combinations have too much overlap to make them academically coherent choices. Such units are forbidden combinations and are indicated in each individual Programme Description’s table.
Explanation of some of the terms used:
S1 and S2 refer to Semester 1 (Oct – Jan, inclusive) and Semester 2 (Feb – May, inclusive).
Unit code: The letters indicate the department offering the unit (e.g., BB means the Department of Biology & Biochemistry). The first digit indicates the level of the unit; e.g., Level 4 indicates a Masters level unit also available to undergraduates. The last three digits indicate the number of the specific unit.
Unit title: The name of the unit.
Unit status: O = optional (can be chosen); C = compulsory (must be taken (mandatory).
Assessment Types
EX – Exam
MC – Multiple Choice questions
PR – Practical
CW – Coursework (can be extended essay, seminar presentation etc)
Credits: This indicates the workload associated with the unit. In the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) that is used at the University of Bath, 1 credit equals about 20 hours of work so a “standard” 6 credit unit needs about 120 hours of work.
Programme code: For internal use and for contacting all members on a programme via an e-mailing list.
CHOOSING YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT
One of the most important aspects of your MRes degree is undertaking TWO research projectsover the year. Accordingly, please consider your interests and career objectives before you select up to SIX project supervisorswhich should be ranked in order of preference in the Google form which will be provided. You may give equal ranking to some projects. In the department, research is carried out on animals, plants and microorganisms at the level of molecules, cells, organisms and populations. It is focused on 4 research themes
- Cell and developmental biology
- Evolution and biodiversity
- Infection and immunity
- Medical and industrial biotechnology
These foci serve to concentrate resources in areas of excellence while providing a coherent and overlapping coverage of a wide range of biological problems. Good research projects evolve as new data is obtained. Therefore, instead of specific projects, we would like you to list the project supervisor you are interested in working with. The department research website ( ) and the academic staff contact pages ( should help you with this.
Project supervisors can only take a limited number of project students so we cannot guarantee your top choice(s) but we will make every effort to ensure that you have appropriate topics. Accordingly it is very helpful to us if you add some free text to indicate the reasons why you wish to undertake the particular project(s). For example, you may want to learn a specific skill or work on a particular organism or gene or have a particular career objective.
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